INTERVIEW: WEEKEND

Weekend star Chris New recently spoke to Rip It Up about writer/director Andrew Haigh’s film, and candidly discussed his casting in this, his bigscreen début, as well as the particular pressures of appearing in such a minimalist and intimate production.

Chris, your acting work prior to Weekend was in the theatre and a little TV, right?

That’s right. I think I’m up to, ooh, something like my 14th play in the last 5 or 6 years, and so, yeah, it’s usually what I do. I’ve done plays in London, all over England and in New York… And so I was a bit cautious about doing a film, as I didn’t really know if I could do it. But when I met Andrew and read the script, I just thought that it was an obvious thing to go for, just the right project, and Andrew was the right guy for me to be working with. And we all had a great time.

So Andrew approached you personally with the offer of playing the role of Glen?

He knew about me from something, but I don’t know what… He kind of had me in mind for the part, and then I was brought in to the audition process, and to read with the other actors. I don’t know how the others read the part of Glen: maybe they did it all super-camp and bitchy? I ended up reading with Tom Cullen, as Russell and another guy, but I think everyone just knew that when I read with Tom it was just right, and we all went from there.

Did it worry you at all that the film is so minimalist and intimate? Really, in the end, it’s just you and Tom talking…

laughs I tried not to think about that too much… When we actually went to shooting, we just never really thought that anybody would ever watch the film, weirdly, because it seemed like such a small production. We didn’t know if anyone would ever want to watch it, or even if it would get released: so many films, whether they’re good or bad, often just get put on the shelf and left there. And as we never really thought that anyone would ever see it, you know, it kind of took the pressure off, and we all thought, ‘Ah well, let’s just give it our best go!’ And then, somehow, a lot of people wanted to see the film, and that was a real shock!

You said that some of the other actors who tried out for the role of Glen might have made him camp and bitchy…

And sour and defensive and angry and nasty…

And yet he is all those things, to a point. How did you find his essence, and be able to bring the character to life with sympathy?

Glen has too many defense mechanisms, and he attacks too easily. But I think that bringing out the sympathy is all to do with Andrew’s script, and the way that the third act develops: we get a sense then of who these people really are, and how the layers have been stripped away in the first and second acts. And luckily and very unusually we shot in sequence: we shot the first sequence first and the last one last on the very last day, and that really helped with knowing where we were and the characters were in the story… We were just really lucky to have that.

And what about the sex scenes with Tom? They’re rather explicit, but not shocking…

laughs You know, it’s Russell and Glen doing it, and not me and Tom. It’s acting more laughter… That sequence that you’re talking about took about 15 minutes of the entire shoot, and really we just got it over with… But the hardest bit is the emotional intimacy and intensity of it, not the sex stuff. You know, getting your bum out on screen is really easy, and taking your clothes off requires no acting!

And finally: does the favourable response to Weekend make you want to pursue more work in movies, Chris?

I’m not rushing into doing movies, no. There’s been some talk, but I’ve gone back to do plays for the moment: I played Edward II last year, and I’m now doing a play by Philip Ridley called The Pitchfork, which is really a passion project for me… I’m not one for huge ambition, you know, and I’m not going to rush off to LA and have meetings, and more meetings, and more meetings. I’m happy doing what I’m doing.

Words: MDB

Weekend is now screening at Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas. Read our film review of Weekend here.

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